The Regression Strain

“With tight pacing, visceral horror, and sharp psychological insight, The Regression Strain explores what happens when science, instinct, and morality collide in the vacuum of survival . . . claustrophobic, haunting, and razor-sharp”

K.C. Finn for Readers’ Favorite

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“Kevin Hwang’s debut examines loss, grief, and what it means to be human, all while keeping the reader on the edge of their seat with what might go wrong next. The Regression Strain is a propulsive medical thriller that had me turning pages late into the night.”

USA Today Bestselling Author Kristen Bird

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Nobody’s safe when the inner beast awakens

Dr. Peter Palma joins the medical team of the Paradise to treat passengers for minor ailments as the cruise ship sails across the Atlantic. But something foul is festering under the veneer of leisure. The brig fills with felons, the morgue with bodies, and the vacation becomes a nightmare. Peter and his staff face a vile affliction that pits loved ones against each other and shatters the bonds of civil society. With the ship hurtling towards an unprepared New York, only Peter can neutralize the threat, but he’s hallucinating and delirious.

And sometimes primal urges are impossible to resist

A fast-paced, cerebral medical thriller that'll grab you from the first to the last page.

More praise for The Regression Strain

"A fun, fast-paced read that blends the gruesome thrills of a zombie movie with the fascinating details of good medical writing and strands the whole thing in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean."

Cassandra Rose Clarke, author of The Mad Scientist's Daughter

"Physician-novelist Kevin Hwang gives us in The Regression Strain a medical thriller that you won't be able to put down! This is a book filled with both insight and emotion."

Nathan Carlin, Director of the McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Medical Humanities

"Kevin Hwang's debut threads together medical acuity and a gripping plot to ask what it means to be a physician in the face of looming viral destruction and what it truly means to be alive. The Regression Strain takes you on board and doesn't let you go."

Pritha Bhattacharyya, Writer-in-Residence, McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics

"...a high seas thriller that will keep you turning the pages from the first port of call to the last. Welcome Aboard!"

martin bihl - Editor: the-agency-review

Cast of Characters

Dr. Peter Palma, a young physician from Houston who's burned out and wresting with guilt over his brother's fate
Dr. Elizabeth Hartley, the Scottish physician who's supposed to be supervising Peter but is teetering on the edge of madness
Captain Forster, with an ego the size of an ocean
Harrington, the security chief desperate to maintain order
Mandy Chin, a nurse from Portland who Peter can't stop thinking about in all the wrong ways
Natalia (Nali), Peter's sister who's too clever for her own good
Calvin, a teenage boy abandoned by his mother
Chessa, a dining server with a devastating secret
Agus, a crew member and purveyor of otherworldly coffee

For fans of . . .

TV shows
- Doctor Odyssey
- ER
Authors
- Michael Crichton
- Gary Gerlacher
- Gary Birken
- Robin Cook
Themes / tropes / settings
- Contagion
- Outbreaks
- Plague
- Cruise ship

FAQs

Are any of the characters based on real people you know?

I plead the Fifth, Your Honor.

Have you ever worked as a doctor on a cruise ship?

No, but I think it would have been a really interesting gig for a younger me.

Could the events in The Regression Strain happen in real life?

I wouldn't rule it out 100%. You know what they say about truth being stranger than fiction!

Are you working on any more books?

Yes...stay tuned!

Boring stuff

Ebook
- ISBN 979-8992727005
- ASIN B0F9XDK3D5
Paperback
- ISBN 979-8992727012
- ASIN B0F9Q1L4KV
Hardcover (forthcoming)
Audiobook (forthcoming)

About me

I'm a professor of internal medicine at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston where I see patients and teach residents. My academic work has appeared in leading medical journals.